The association between hot flushes and smoking in midlife women: a meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

Background Several epidemiological studies have investigated the association between hot flushes and smoking, but the results are inconsistent. This meta-analysis was performed to estimate an overall effect of former smoking and current smoking on the risk of hot flushes in midlife women.

Methods We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus for observational studies addressing the association between hot flushes and smoking until March 2015. Data were independently extracted and analyzed using odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals (CI) based on the random-effects model.

Results We identified 621 references and included eight studies with 27 054 participants. The odds ratio of an association between hot flushes and former smoking was estimated as 1.31 (95% CI 1.22–1.41) and that of current smoking was estimated as 1.97 (95% CI 1.81–2.14). No evidence of heterogeneity and publication bias was observed.

Conclusion The findings from this meta-analysis indicated that former and current smoking are associated with an increased risk of hot flushes. However, more evidence based on large, prospective cohort studies is required to provide stronger evidence whether former and current smoking may be associated with an increased risk of hot flushes.

Key words:

• HOT FLUSHES
• SMOKING
• TOBACCO
• META-ANALYSIS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the Vice-chancellor of Research and Technology of Islamic Azad University, Branch Toyserkan for approval of this study.

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Source of funding Nil.